• Home


• Events


• A Unique Resource


• Current Conditions


• Get Involved


• Donors

The playground needs to be rebuilt for two main reasons:

It is unsafe.

The playground is full of neglected, broken, and unsafe equipment.  At the Gompers Park Playground you can find:  sharp edges of rusty metal, loose screws, protruding bolts and chipping paint; unstable swing sets with worn out hooks; open spaces on equipment that can entrap a child’s head and neck; ad hoc materials used to repair equipment; slides that are too high above the ground; wood decks on the ground that trip children and on the equipment that gives them splinters; a too thin layer of wood chips invites injuries from falls, and hides dangerous garbage.  The Injury Free Coalition for Kids at Children’s Memorial Hospital recently issued a comprehensive report on the sad state of the playground.  Anecdotal evidence from community families also supports our claim that the playground is in unacceptable condition.  

It does not meet the needs of Gompers Park.

We need a functional layout, appropriate equipment, and safe materials that welcome and engage children of all ages and abilities, as well as other community members such as the disabled and senior citizens.  Large openings, high off of the ground are not safe for the younger children.  Lack of climbing or balance equipment fails to interest and challenge the older children.  The limited selection of  playground equipment is not designed to handle the large population that is served by this busy, extensive park, including children of all ages, the disabled, and senior citizens.  People with disabilities cannot access the playground or field house.  There are no seating areas within the playground area.  A lack of shaded areas makes it impossible to enjoy the playground for any length of time during the summer.   Soft surface ground cover would allow children to run and wheel chairs to roll without tripping or getting stuck in the wood chips.  In addition, the current layout fails to use space efficiently and effectively, and lacks interesting equipment that will encourage imaginative, interactive play.

The rusty, vandalized partial skeleton of what was once a train	Best efforts made by the park to make a disintegrating ladder work, for now
Sharp, rusty metal abounds	Don't run too fast
Unusable equipment wasting away.  A thin layer of mulch does not prevent injuries from falls.	The only seating is yards away from equipment where children play.  Only two of the benchs are minimally comfortable, while the other two are too tilted.
Baby swings on one end of the large park, with big kid swings on the other make it impossible for parents to supervise children of different ages.  The hooks are thin and rusty.  The chains on the baby swings are set too wide.